Andre 3000: Yeah, about that awkward Coachella performance...

Outkast’s Andre 3000 doesn’t do many interviews, and you’d be hard-pressed to dig up any paparazzi shots of him. So, his recent chat with The New York Times is a breath of fresh air.

He talks about everything from fatherhood, to turning down the Jimi Hendrix biopic, to walking away from millions of dollars. And, yes, he knows his awkward Coachella performance in April was not his best.

He admits to being rusty at the start of the comeback tour

“Yeah, I think people could see it at Coachella, the very first show. It was foreign. My head wasn’t there. I kind of fluffed through rehearsals. A few hours before the Coachella show, I get a message that Prince and Paul McCartney are going to be there. My spirit is not right, and idols are standing side-stage, so as the show started, I’m bummed. This is horrible. In my mind I was already gone to my hotel room halfway through.”

But, Prince helped him power through

“So Prince called a couple days after. It was my first time actually talking to Prince. He said: ‘When you come back, people want to be wowed. And what’s the best way to wow people? Just give them the hits.’ I’m explaining to him that I really didn’t want to do it. He said: ‘I’ve been there. I’ve tried to do other things. After you give them the hits, then you can do whatever.’ He broke it down like this: ‘You’re a grown man. You’re either going to do it or you’re not.’ ”

He’s apologized to Big Boi for dropping out of the scene

“We’ve left millions and millions of dollars on the table. We didn’t even tour for our biggest album (Speakerboxxx/The Love Below). I just wanted to say I know how hard it must be.”

How he changed his mind about doing the Jimi Hendrix biopic

“I may have said it to John (Ridley, writer/director): ‘Man, I’m old. I have gray hair. Get some young unknown kid to play Hendrix.’ I turned it down. They kept at it. I actually asked my son, (Seven, 16, with ex Erykah Badu). He said, ‘Yeah, man.’ Honestly, I needed it in my life, too. Hendrix kind of saved me. I was in a not-so-great space, just in a dark place every day. I needed something to focus on to get me out of my depression and rut. Sometimes, when you’re alone, you can let yourself go. I knew if I got on a train with a lot of different people, then I couldn’t let them down.”

He’s literally a soccer dad

“Seven’s been going to school in Atlanta for the last two years. I wake up every morning, take him to school, pick him up from school, going to soccer games, going to wrestling matches. Total dad, which is cool, because so much of that was taken by my early Outkast years. We were at the height, so a lot of the time that should have been (spent) with him, I’m on the road entertaining everybody else.”

Will we finally get a new album from him?

“It’s hard to say. (Laughs.) I’m just going to call it honest. I know this may sound morbid, but I was like, if I were to die today, I have all these half-songs on my hard drive, and I don’t want that.”